Fresh Christmas trees are used extensively during the Christmas holiday season in homes, public buildings and the like, as decorative centerpieces and as symbols of the holiday spirit. Many different types of stands or support mechanisms are used to hold the trees in upright positions, including bases made of crossed wood members nailed to the bottom of the tree trunk and stands having legs or a base secured to a collar around the tree trunk, or to supports attached by some means to the tree trunk. Most of these types of stands are attached only to the bottom several inches of the tree trunk, below the lowest limbs of the tree, which is often inadequate for effectively stabilizing the tree, especially if the tree is relatively tall or broad. If large base-type stands are used, the collar and angular support members for the base may rise relatively high on the tree trunk, and placement of the collar on the tree trunk requires the removal of lower tree branches. After the lower branches have been removed and the stand has been attached, often the lowest remaining branches on the tree are relatively high off the floor, and a less than desirable appearance is provided by the Christmas tree. If it is desirable to have branches near the ground or floor, a stand of cross members nailed to the bottom of the tree can be used without removing lower tree branches; however, these types of stands do not provide containers for watering the tree. As yet another alternative, if stands having collars on the trees are used, the lower tree limbs can be removed and holes drilled in the trunk of the tree, and the branches can be inserted into the holes after the stand has been attached; however, this is time consuming, and unless the person so altering the tree has experience, the resulting appearance is usually not satisfactory.
Yet another problem encountered in erecting fresh Christmas trees for decorative purposes is that often the trunk of the tree is not straight. This occurs more frequently when the tree is one cut in the wild rather than a cultivated, commercially grown tree. Although the development of the branches on the tree may be such as to provide a symmetric and desirable shape and appearance, the trunk may be angular, curved or otherwise irregular. A stand attached to the bottom of the tree trunk may not support the trunk in the same position as when the tree was growing, and therefore the tree will appear crooked. Still another difficulty is that a bowed or angular trunk results in an unbalanced weight distribution of the tree, and even if the stand can be attached in such a manner that the tree appears straight, the uneven weight distribution results in an unstable arrangement whereby the tree can be toppled easily from the upright position. occassionally a tree of satisfactory appearance will have a thick trunk which will not fit in a stand without whittling or other reduction of the trunk diameter. When the trunk is reduced by hand with a knife, saw or the like, the pitch therefrom can soil floors, carpets, clothes and hands.
Tree stands have been used which have had a water pan at the bottom for steadying the tree trunk and a means for firmly gripping the trunk among the branches a substantial distance above the bottom of the trunk. The gripping means have been difficult to attach to the trunks in that the branches of the tree make it difficult to see the gripping means and complete the attachment. Two hands are often required to secure the stand to the tree; hence, two people are often needed, one to hold the tree and another to attach the stand.